


Break My Mind

by Smartasswolf23



Category: Naruto
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Extremely Dubious Consent, F/M, Inappropriate Behavior, Obsessive Behavior, Teacher-Student Relationship
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-02-08
Updated: 2017-10-11
Packaged: 2018-09-22 22:58:21
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Rape/Non-Con, Underage
Chapters: 3
Words: 14,413
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9628934
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Smartasswolf23/pseuds/Smartasswolf23
Summary: When a teacher becomes obsessed with Ino, will she have to rely on a knight in shining armor to save her? Or will she be able to save herself from this nightmare?





	1. Prolouge

**Author's Note:**

> This fic is rated E for a reason. It will deal with a lot of things. I will put warnings before each chapter, so you know what to expect. Shout-out to Varmint for being my amazing beta and great friend!! 
> 
> Read and Review please!! 
> 
> Warnings: Language

The alarm blared and blue pupil-less eyes fluttered opened. Groggily, a hand reached out and smacked the alarm into blessed silence. Grumbling, the girl sat up on her bed and rubbed at her eyes. She had only managed to get a few hours of sleep last night. She had been too excited to sleep, since today was the start of Sophomore year at Konoha High.

One year closer to graduation! One year closer to leaving this small town for bigger and better things! Just _one more_!

Her right hand reached out and fisted the blanket that was covering her lower body, and, with a swing of her arm, she tossed it off her. She grabbed the remote that had been sitting on her headboard, and turned on her stereo.

Feet hitting the ground with a dull thud, the excited teenager pushed off the bed with her arms and propelled herself sleepily towards her bathroom.

Half an hour later, she stepped out of the shower and wrapped a towel around her body. The girl steadily made her way through her morning routine. Once she was done, she stood in her walk-in closet, and began looking through her clothes to find the perfect outfit for today.

Ino decided on a black pleated skirt that ended mid-thigh, a purple tank top that seemed to be a little small for the now busty girl. The blonde slipped her clothes on over her matching bra and panty set. She always hated wearing things that didn't match or go together, she wasn't like Sakura in that aspect. ' _Actually, I don't think we've ever really been like the other._ ' She mused to herself as she finished getting ready for school.

The girls had a bit of a frenemy relationship, sometimes they were thicker than thieves, and others, well not so much. Ino knew it had to do with the boy they had both liked, Sasuke Uchiha. They both had crushes on the boy as children, and it was when the girls were nine that Sakura decided to end the friendship, so they could be rivals. Six years later, and while the girls could be inseparable, Ino couldn't help but feel that the other shoe had yet to drop.

The girl finished pulling her hair up into her signature high ponytail, with her frayed bangs hanging over her right eye. She turned off her stereo as she passed it on the way out of her room. Shutting the door with a firm click, the girl made her way down the hall to the kitchen to grab a bite before she needed to leave to meet up with her friends.

Once she was in the kitchen, she realized her dad had already left for work, since the coffee pot was empty and there was a note sitting on the counter. Picking it up, she skimmed it, 'Ino, I had to leave early. We have a new case. I'll see you later tonight. Love dad'.

Ino grabbed an apple, and the backpack that she had prepared the night before. Plugging her earbuds into her phone, she went into her music app and started playing her favorites playlist. She started bopping her head, as the song _Pon de Replay_ by Rihanna started blasting in her ears.

Once the earbuds were secured in her ears, she shouldered her bag, and slipped on her black wedges that were her favorite shoes. She walked out of the door, all the while making sure to lock it behind her. Then she slipped her keys into her bag before shifting it once more onto her back.

She took a bite of the apple as she walked down the path that would lead to her best friend's house. She figured the lazy-ass still wasn't awake. He had a habit of waiting for her to wake him up. Once she was at his door, apple finished with only the core in her hand to show what her breakfast had been, she knocked on the wooden door.

It wasn't a surprise that Yoshino Nara opened the door, since her husband and Ino's dad worked together, and carpooled too.

"Hello dear, come inside!" Yoshino exclaimed, as she gave the girl a quick hug. Ino was like a surrogate daughter to her, since she had found out that after her first born, she couldn't have any more children.

Ino smiled brightly at the woman, and followed her into the house. It was nice to have Yoshino around, since her mom had died during childbirth with her. For Ino, it was great to have a surrogate mother of sorts, since she couldn't always go to her father for everything.

She remembered the first time she got her period, her dad had fainted for a minute, before he woke back up and started panicking. Yoshino had been the one to come over, and help her with everything while telling her father to stop panicking and that no, she wouldn't die.

The younger girl followed the woman into the house, toeing off her shoes in the entry way. She set her bag down by her shoes, and asked, "Is Shikamaru awake yet?"

Yoshino just let out a snort and shook her head. Sometimes it was a wonder that her son would even wake up, then again, the blonde standing in the entry way had always been able to wake him up.

Ino shook her head, and on her way back to Shikamaru's room, she threw the apple core away in the trash. The blue-eyed girl opened the bedroom door and saw her best friend sprawled out over his bed, still asleep.

"Shika, it's time for school;" Ino said as she shook the boy's prone figure. The boy grumbled something under his breath and turned over in his sleep.

Ino's eyebrow twitched slightly, well if this is the way he wanted to play it then, she would gladly play his way.

She clambered on top of his bed, and moved onto the other side of him, with a firm kick she knocked him off the bed and onto the ground.

Shikamaru's eyes shot open once he hit the ground. He glared at the girl who was standing triumphantly on his bed, with her hands on her hips.

"Get up lazy! It's the first day of school, and I'm so not going to be late because of you." She told him as she pointed a finger at him.

"Then get out of my room troublesome woman." He grumbled, as he stood up. He wasn't going to change in front of her, that was just way too embarrassing.

The girl smiled at the Nara, hopped off his bed, and bounced out his door, presumably to go bother his mother.

The brunet scratched his head as he got his bearings, then began to get ready. It really was easier just to appease the girl than to try and argue against her.

-*()*-

The duo made it out of the Nara household half an hour later and started the trek to the high school. The blonde was chatting animatedly while the brunet was making grunts every few minutes, to show he was paying attention.

"Hey Ino! Hey Shikamaru!" Sakura yelled out, as she waved her arm at the two approaching the school.

The pink-haired girl stood in front of the school with Hinata, Sasuke, Shino, and Chōji. It would seem the other two members of their rag-tag group were running late as usual. The group had been dubbed affectionately by the teachers, Rookie Nine.

During their freshman year, they had all made great impressions in their extra circular activities. Sakura had scored the winning basket for girl's junior varsity basketball. Shikamaru had obliterated all his opponents in the shoji competition. Chouji had wiped the floor with his during their wrestling matches. Ino had kept the other team from scoring even one point as center on the girl's junior varsity volleyball team. Hinata had easily won over the entire student population with her soft smile and demure attitude, she was now the president of student council. Shino was easily one of the best and fastest swimmers the Konoha team had in a while; while Kiba had set new records for the track team. Naruto had single-handedly scored the most points for the boy's junior varsity soccer team, and Sasuke had struck out every batter as the pitcher for their baseball team.

"Hey Forehead!" Ino shouted back at her friend as she grabbed Shikamaru's arm and pulled him behind her once she picked up the pace.

"Here you go, it's your schedule;" Sakura said as she handed over a piece of paper to the blonde. While Chouji handed Shikamaru his schedule.

Sakura immediately glued herself to Ino's side, so they could begin to compare schedules to see if they had any classes together.

"Well we have Math, Psychology, and Home Economics together." Ino pointed out as she eyed her schedule critically.

"What teacher do you have for being student aide this year?" Sakura asked, as she looked at her own to see who she had.

Each sophomore was assigned to be a teacher's aide for the school year. It was a way to help with their college transcripts, without getting in the way of any other extra circular activities that were done. And it gave the teacher's help for getting all the errands done, so they weren't too swamped to help the students that needed it.

"It looks like I have Sarutobi-sensei. How about you?" Ino asked, she had never met him before, so the girl hoped he was nice.

"Senju-sensei;" answered Sakura, she had heard a few rumors about the woman before, and sincerely hoped they weren't true. Some had even said that she drank while on the job!

Right as the two late members of their group arrived, the bell blared across the school yard. With everyone shouting good-byes, and figuring out who was going where; the group of nine split into three groups of three.

Hinata, Kiba, and Ino headed towards the gym. While Sakura, Shino, and Naruto headed towards the science building. And the final group of Shikamaru, Chouji, and Sasuke headed into the main building where the math rooms were located.

* * *

**Outdoor Track**

"Okay my youthful students, we are going to do Fitness test today! We will first start with a two-mile run, then we will move on to the sit-ups, push-ups, and pull-ups! Remember to try your hardest!" Guy shouted to the students gathered around the track outside. He gave them a thousand-watt smile and thumbs up.

"Oh, this will be a cake walk for me!" Kiba exclaimed, excited since he was the fastest runner in this class.

The class was a mixed class of different grades. They had three seniors; Itachi Uchiha, Kisame Hoshigaki, and Konan. Three juniors; Rock Lee, Hana Inuzuka, and Izumi Uchiha. Three sophomores; Hinata Hyūga, Ino Yamanaka, and Kiba Inuzuka. And three freshmen; Ami, Kasumi, and Fuki.

Ino rolled her eyes at the boy and shook her head. She lined up behind Kiba, because as much as a loud mouth as he was, he would still pretty much clear the path for them. She offered a smile to Hinata who was behind Itachi, the blonde knew the other girl hated this class.

Guy-sensei gave them all a minute to get into position, and then he, from the side-lines, blew the whistle and started the test.

* * *

**Math Classroom**

"Good morning everyone, I'm Shiranui-sensei. I'll be your advanced math teacher through the rest of the school year. Now if everyone will take a syllabus and pass it back, we can go over what I expect out of you for this year." Genma told the class, as he handed the syllabus packets to the front row of students.

"Excuse me, Shiranui-sensei, why don't we have Sarutobi-sensei? I thought he was teaching Advanced Mathematics this year?" Chōji asked, once the teacher had noticed he had his hand up.

"Because Sarutobi-sensei had too much on his plate this year. So, the Principal thought it would be best to give him a break, and only have him teach the intermediate math classes along with overseeing the shoji team." Shiranui answered back, twirling the toothpick he had in his mouth with his tongue.

* * *

**Science Classroom**

"Welcome to Anatomy. I am Senju-sensei, and over the year, we will be discussing the different systems in the body and how they each function. And how each is related to another." Tsunade Senju told the class once everyone was sitting down.

"Who in here is my aide for the year?" The blonde woman asked, while her eyes flickered over the new faces.

Sakura raised her hand slowly, and made eye contact with the buxom woman.

"Good, see me after school. We'll discuss what you're going to be doing for me for the next year." Tsunade told her with an annoyed sigh, really wishing she had a drink right about now.

* * *

**Hallways (Between First and Second Period)**

Ino was walking through the main building towards the science building when she heard someone let out a wolf whistle. She resisted the urge to roll her eyes and decided to just ignore the person. She knew she had a hot body, and wasn't afraid to show it off a little.

As she walked past a group of seniors, the person who let out the wolf whistle, turned and smacked her skirt clad ass. "Nice ass!" He exclaimed as he leered at the younger girl. The nerve!

Smiling a little to herself, she turned and in one movement, kneed him in the balls… _hard._ "Put your hand on me again, and I'll do more than send your balls to your throat." She snapped viciously as she glared at the violet haired man in front of her.

Not giving him a chance to retort, the blonde turned around and walked off. Hidan gave a little smirk from where he was bent over as he watched her leave. 'Well at least she will make this interesting.' He thought to himself, letting his thoughts run wild at all he could and wanted to do with the clearly fiery blonde.

* * *

**Biology Class**

Ino was happy that the teacher let them pick their own seats. She sat at a lab table with Sasuke beside her, while Chouji and Naruto sat at the lab table behind them. It would be a lot easier being partners with Sasuke, since he was smart and wouldn't slack off in the class. And he knew that while she might flirt with him, that she wasn't a slacker, and tended to get straight A's as well.

"Good morning all, I am Orochimaru-sensei. I will be teaching you all Biology, specifically this year it will be zoology. In this class, we will be dissecting animals, and your final will be a five-page report over two animals we have dissected." Orochimaru told the class, eyes flickering, taking note of where everyone was sitting.

"Now let's start with attendance: Akimichi, Chōji?" Orochimaru asked, looking over his list of kids that were supposed to be in his class this year.

* * *

**Math Classroom (Next Period)**

Ino sat at a desk in the front row, with Sakura to her right and Shino to her left. The two girls were in their own little world as they waited for the bell to ring.

"So how were your first two classes?" Ino asked as she drummed her fingers on the desk.

"My first class is with Senju-sensei, she wants to meet with me after school to go over what I'll be doing for her this year. I'm really hoping that the rumors I've heard about her aren't true. I mean, can you imagine?! And then I had P.E! What pit of hell did they drag Guy-sensei from? Who the hell makes kids do a Physical test on their first day? It was so stupid! And I haven't had much of a chance to work out over the summer, with my job, so of course, I didn't do too well with it! Which of course, just pisses me off!" Sakura ended her rant by throwing her arms in the air to the amusement of her friends.

The bell rang, effectively ending any retort the blonde could make. She turned back and faced the front of the room, and found herself under the gaze of an older man. If the amused smile was anything to go on, he had been listening their conversation and apparently found it funny. Well at least, he wasn't glaring at them. Once everyone had settled into their seats and conversations had been shut down, did he move.

He stood up and walked around his desk, and stood in front of it while he addressed the class; "Good morning everyone, I'm Sarutobi-sensei. I will be teaching you all Algebra II this year."

As he continued talking, Ino took the moment to study her new math teacher. He looked to be at least 30 years old, dark scruffy hair while full was short in the back, brown eyes, tanned skin, side-burns that led into a beard, and from what she could see from the cut of his clothes, he worked out quite a bit. She glanced down at his hands that were clasped in front of him and noticed the yellowing of the finger nails as well.

'So probably former military. Prefers order, but given his hair, doesn't mind a little chaos. He probably smokes a pack of cigarettes a day.' Ino thought to herself, happy her dad had taught her a few tricks of the trade he was in.

"Yamanaka, Ino?" He asked, eyes flicked from the attendance sheet back up to the class.

"Here!" She answered, raising her hand. She fought down a blush, when he smiled at her. So, he knew that she had been looking at him.

"You're my new student aide correct?" He asked as he marked her down for present.

"Yes sir." She answered back, she was barely able to keep from fidgeting under his gaze.

"Good, see me after school and we'll go over everything." He told her, before the man addressed the rest of class and started the first lesson.

* * *

**Math Classroom (After School)**

"I'm so sorry I'm late, Sarutobi-sensei!" Ino cried as she entered the math classroom. She had wanted to make a good impression, but being fifteen minutes late did not help in that aspect.

"Did something happen?" Asuma asked as he looked up from his lesson plan to the girl. It was easy for him to see she was trying not to fidget when he looked at her.

"Yes, my Philosophy teacher was fifteen minutes late to class and made us stay fifteen minutes after the bell rang. Said something about being lost on the path of life." She answered, unsure if that was what he truly said, since he had mumbled it while his head was buried in a book.

"You've got Hatake, that's one of his usual excuses for being late. Don't worry about it, I need your help in getting last year's Calculus lesson plans together. The new math teacher, Shiranui, asked for them." He told the girl as he moved from behind the desk.

The blonde immediately nodded and followed him when he motioned for her. "The files are somewhere in here, sorry about that." He mentioned as he opened a closet door by his desk. He flicked on the light switch by the door.

The closet was filled with different boxes, piled high with no markings on them; and a few filing cabinets with even more boxes stacked on top of them.

Her eyes widened and lips pursed when she saw the state of the room. For a guy who prefers order, this is mostly certainly not it.

"Our rooms got moved last year, and the when the movers packed up everything, they neglected to put it in any kind of order. So, some of boxes are going to have files from at least ten years back mixed in with lesson plans from a year or two ago." He explained while scratching at the back of his head.

"Okay, I'll find the files for Shiranui-sensei. Do you want me to organize the room afterwards?" She asked him, all the while she moved past him into the smaller room.

"We'll figure out how to organize the room later, today I just need those files." The dark-haired man told the slip of a girl.

He decided now would be a good time to go for a smoke, and quietly left the classroom.

When he came back into the room, he noticed his desk chair was missing from it's usual spot and that he could hear her moving around in the closet.

Asuma moved to where he could lean against the doorframe of the closet and watched as she tried to balance out on the top of the chair while leaning it onto two legs as she tried to get one of the higher boxes.

Shaking his head at the sight, 'Last thing I need is a safety briefing. Or for her to get a concussion,' he thought wryly, frowning just slightly.

"Yamanaka!"

Apparently, that was the wrong thing to do; since next thing he knew, she was starting to fall backwards. Asuma darted forward and placed the palm of his hand on her back to keep her from falling.

"Try to not kill yourself today; that would look really bad on me." He smirked towards the girl, even though she immediately blushed and began to save face.

"I'm sorry Sarutobi-sensei! I just couldn't reach the box. So, that's why I'm on your chair." Ino explained to the man who had just saved her life.

"First off, if you need something high; ask me. Second off, Asuma-sensei. We aren't in class, so I don't mind you calling me Asuma-sensei. Sarutobi-sensei was my father." He sighed yet allowed the smirk to slip into a smile, all the while he helped her down and off the chair.

She nodded her head in agreement, and moved the chair out of the way so the man could reach the box that she had problems getting. Was it her imagination or did his hand linger for a moment too long on her back? _'No, it was my imagination. He was just being nice, get it together.'_ She thought to herself as she placed his chair back at his desk.

A loud thump on the ground made the girl jump. Asuma poked his head out of the closet to see a frightened expression on her face.

"Sorry about that, the box fell down;" he explained as he brought the box in question out and into the classroom.

The two spent the next hour going through the boxes to find the files that were needed.

* * *

**Yamanaka Home**

Ino sat at the dinner table with her dad as she told him about her day. "So, then we spent an hour going through all those boxes! I swear, whoever put those boxes together was an idiot! They had files from twelve years ago, mixed in with files from _three_!"

Inoichi chuckled at his daughter's antics, it had always amused him that she was so animated when she talked about anything.

"So, daddy what's your new case?" The blue-eyed girl questioned as she took a bite of the chicken she made earlier.

"Well local police found a few dead bodies in the forest to the east of Konoha. All three victims had their necks snapped in the exact same way, and all dumped in the same area. They called us in because they weren't sure if it was a serial killer or just coincidence- "

"Why would it be a coincidence?"

"Because these girls don't match in age, race, appearance, jobs, or anything else. Usually speaking, a serial killer keeps to a certain type. But this one hasn't, so it's going to make things more complicated in the long run. And it doesn't help that the local PD has started to refer to the forest as the Forest of Death."

Ino let out a snort at that. Really, what was it with people and naming things like that? "Who's on the roster for this case?"

"Shikaku, Ibiki, Radiou, Iwashi, Aoba, and a new person, Mitarashi-san."

"Ooh, new person? What are they like? Are they any good? What made them want to join?" She asked her question in a rapid fire manner, one that her father was all too used to.

"Mitarashi, Anko. She has a lot of promise in the career path. Ibiki's taken her under his wing, she's going to be the next interrogator for our team. And anything else, you would just have to find out from her." Inoichi told his daughter with an authoritative tone, that told her not to push.

"Yes daddy!" She chirped at him, with a smile on her face. The two continued to make small talk through the rest of dinner.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kiba is a smart ass, Ino is angry, Asuma ups the ante

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Author's Note: See first chapter for warnings. Shout-out to Varmint for being amazing and helping me! I own nothing but the plotline of this story.  
> Trigger Warnings: Language and light flirting  
> Please Read and Review!

**English Classroom (First Period; Day 2)**

Ino sat at a desk by the windows with Shikamaru in front of her and Naruto to her right. Two of the three were talking before class started.

"So, who do you have for student aide this year Naruto?" Ino asked the blonde boy as she pulled her binder and pencil out of her backpack.

"I've got Uchiha-sensei. I think he's teme's cousin. But he seems pretty cool and way more friendly than teme or his brother." Naruto yawned out as he laid his head down on his desk. It was way too early for him to be awake!

"Naruto stop calling Sasuke-kun teme. It's really just a reflection on you." Ino lectured him, really it was annoying how often Naruto kept putting down Sasuke-kun!

Shikamaru let out a snort, and a grumble under his breath. He never understood her fascination with the boy. Sure, he could have his moments, but most of the time, that boy was a prick to her and her friend. And that bothered Shikamaru mostly, because he knew that Ino did not deserve to be treated like that.

"Alright class settle down!" Yamato yelled out across the classroom. Once everyone had fallen silent, he began to take attendance.

"Our first unit will be on Shakespeare. We will be reading two different plays from him, and after each one you will have a paper due on it. I'll discuss those more in depth the closer we get to finishing the first play." Yamato told the class, making sure that everyone had paid attention to what he said.

The man could see two of the kids towards the back of class had fallen asleep, and a blonde-haired girl was currently trying to wake them up, to no avail.

He walked around his desk, heavy book in hand, and towards the two that had fallen asleep. Stopping in front of the first desk, he slammed the book down hard against the desk. It had the desired effect of waking both students up.

"You will not sleep in this class. Do it again, and it will be detention for the both of you." He growled out, before picking the book back up and going back to his desk.

"The first play is called the Taming of the Shrew. Now, I'm going to assign parts for you to read aloud to the class." He told them, picking up the sheet, he began reading the names of who was playing which part; "Yamanaka Ino, you will read the part of Katherina Minola. Nara Shikamaru, you will be Petruchio. Uzumaki, Naruto you will have the part of Hortensio…"

* * *

**Hallways (Between First and Second Period)**

Ino had put her English book and binder into her locker and had grabbed the binder marked 'Psychology 101' to put in her bag, when the 'asshole', as she had dubbed him in her mind, came strolling up to her.

"Psychology huh? Wouldn't have taken you for a nerd." Hidan leered without any sense of shame. He couldn't help it, she'd worn another short skirt, and with it a tube top that showed a flash of toned stomach, along with a cropped short-sleeved sweater.

"Really and what did you take me for?" She asked rhetorically, not expecting him to start following her, as she shut her locker and began to make her way to the next class.

"Dumb blonde, cheerleader type." He told her with a shrug; it's not like he's ever had a filter before.

Ino whirled around so they were almost touching and shoved her finger into his chest as she started to berate him, "First off, I'm not some dumb blonde. I have a 4.0 GPA and have had it since middle school. Second off, I'm not a damn cheerleader, I'm a volleyball player. And the most important fact, I have watched enough Law and Order and Cops episodes to be able to make you disappear and look like Big Bird did it. Don't fuck with me!"

She spun on her heel and stalked off, unaware that he had found her entire speech more than a little amusing. It wasn't often that he could find a verbal sparring partner.

* * *

**Teacher's Lounge**

Kakashi, Orochimaru, Yamato, Asuma, and Tsunade all sat around a table, eating their various lunches.

"So Kakashi who do you have for your student aide this year?" Yamato asked his long-time friend as he munched on a rice ball.

"Kid named Shikamaru. I've only spent a little time with him, but from what I can tell, he'd rather be watching clouds or napping." Kakashi told his friend as he kept his head buried in a book. It had become a running gag around the school to try and see Kakashi without the normal scarf that was always pulled up and over his lower face or without a book doing the same job.

"Well at least that's slightly better than mine. I've got an Uchiha. The kid is fucking arrogant as hell, which is sad, since his older brother was definitely not like that." Orochimaru chimed in almost somberly, all the while he ate some sushi.

"Dude, my student aide has pink hair. I'm seriously considering asking her if she dyes it, or it's natural. And she is obsessed with yours. I've seen her notebooks, doodles of her and him all over it." Tsunade grumbled from across the table, head buried in a medical book.

"Mine just tried to kill herself on the first day. Went outside to smoke, came back in and she was standing on top of my chair, leaning it back on two legs. Almost broke her neck." Asuma offered with a chuckle.

"So, I'm the only one who doesn't have a lazy, arrogant, pink-haired, or suicidal aide? Sweet, I got the jackpot!" Yamato boasted to the group. It wasn't in his nature to complain about the students he was given, unless they were completely unhelpful. But so far, Chouji was very helpful.

* * *

**Lunch (Between 2** **nd** **and 3** **rd** **Period)**

The blonde girl sat at a table with Sakura, Kiba, Naruto, Shikamaru and Tenten. The others had the next lunch period. The group was chatting amicably about their various senseis and their classes this year.

"I totally embarrassed myself in front of my sensei!" Ino cried to the group, she still couldn't believe she had almost fallen like that.

"What happened?" Tenten asked as she ate her salad. She was glad that she didn't have to do the student aide thing again. It had been a pain in the ass for her the first time around and she did not feel like having a repeat performance.

"I was standing on his chair trying to reach a box, and almost fell down!" The blonde wallowed to her older friend, and everyone else at the table.

"Wait, weren't you wearing a skirt yesterday?" Kiba asked with a mouth full of food, particles flying in every direction.

The look the girls gave him were a mixture of disgust and horror as they dodged the oncoming assault of half-chewed food.

"Yes, I was;" she answered with a huff, not following his line of thinking. Then again, most couldn't follow whatever went on in that tiny brain of his.

"Ooh, so he saw up your skirt!" Kiba leered before adding, "What kind of underwear were you wearing?"

Ino looked horrified for a moment, because she hadn't thought of that. Then she felt her horror turn into anger at the boy sitting in front of her. She let out a vicious kick to his shin, which made him yelp in return. "You ever ask me something like that again and I will castrate you with a rusty spoon. And there is no way he looked up my skirt!"

Kiba began to swear at the pain that emitted from his shin and rubbed his hand over the now sore spot. Ino let out a huff and grabbed her tray of food; she shot one last withering glare at Kiba before she left the table.

"Thanks, Kiba," Shikamaru drawled sarcastically as he watched the blonde leave the cafeteria. He let out a frustrated sigh, because he knew that ultimately, he would be the target of her ire.

"What?"

"You're a jackass. And you're lucky that all she did was kick you in the shin. I would have stabbed you." Tenten snarled at the boy, angry on behalf of her friend. What was it with boys nowadays? Did they all think with the head that wasn't on their shoulders?

"How? I'm only pointing out the fact that any red-blooded, heterosexual, male would look up her skirt!" Kiba defended himself. He knew he could be crass and occasionally rude, but he didn't lie!

"I wouldn't do that," Shikamaru stated, as he closed his eyes to try and rid himself of the migraine that was forming because of this conversation.

"You've known her since you two were in diapers, doesn't count."

"And you're still an ass." Tenten ended the argument when she slammed her hands onto the table.

Kiba stood up as well, prepared to start another fight with the hot blooded girl. Fortunately for him, the bell rang signifying the end of the lunch period.

* * *

**Anatomy Classroom (Period 3)**

Shikamaru could see the tension in Ino's shoulders and knew she was still upset over the 'lunch incident'. However, she decided that instead of sitting near him, she was sitting on the other end of the classroom.

He wanted to groan in frustration at the situation, it wasn't like he was the one who said those things! So why was she feeling the need to take it out on him? The brunet began to plot the ways he could make Kiba pay for this. He did not deserve this, nor would he stand for it.

* * *

**Hallway (Between 3** **rd** **Period and 4** **th** **)**

Shikamaru caught a hold of Ino's hand as she tried to hurry out of the Anatomy classroom to avoid him. He saw the anger and hurt in her eyes, and wondered exactly what was going through her head.

"Why are you mad?" He asked her as he let go of her hand and started to follow her to her locker.

"Because you didn't defend me! You let him basically call me a whore! And call the teacher in charge of the shogi team, _your_ team, a pervert!" Ino cried, as she shoved a finger into his chest to knock him back a step.

"You're overreacting. Kiba didn't call you a whore, or say that Sarutobi-sensei was a pervert." Shikamaru drawled. As soon as the sentence left his mouth, his eyes widened as he realized the fatal mistake he had just committed.

"Go to hell!" She snarled at him before turning on her heel and leaving him in her dust.

* * *

**Math Classroom (After School)**

Ino opened the door to the classroom and realized that Asuma-sensei was not sitting at his desk. 'Huh, that's odd.' She thought to herself as she stepped into the classroom. The blue-eyed girl hadn't realized that he was standing off to the left of the door.

"Yo," he said by way of greeting of her. He knew that she hadn't seen him, and took a little satisfaction in making her jump.

Ino pressed her hand to her heart in an effort to calm the pounding organ down. "You scared me!" She accused him as she turned to look in his direction. The smile on his face told her that had been his intention, and that made her frown softly.

"You should pay more attention to your surroundings," He shrugged slightly as he fiddled with something by the door, clearly too occupied with the thing to look at her.

Ino let out a 'humph' and moved over to the desks to set her bag down. When she turned around to face the man again, she saw what he had been messing with; the smoke detector.

"I'm pretty sure you're not supposed to take those apart," she admonished him, idly wondering why he would risk something like getting in trouble for dismantling such a device.

"It will be our little secret;" He told her as he went over to the windows and opened one up. Once the window was open, he lit up the cigarette that had been dangling from his mouth since she entered the classroom.

"Oh, and what do I get for keeping this secret of yours Asuma-sensei?" She asked cheekily with her head cocked to the side.

"What do you want?" He countered as he tapped the cigarette against the sill to knock off some ash. He was slightly intrigued, and wondered what exactly she would ask for.

Ino put her finger to her chin in thought, but found that nothing was coming to mind. The blonde wondered if he would agree to allow her to collect on his secret later. She pursed her lips, then asked, "Raincheck on that?"

He chuckled lightly at the girl and nodded his head in acceptance to her stipulation. "Do you do any extra circular activities?" He questioned, the only team he paid attention to was his own, but he was more than aware that there were a lot more running around the school.

"Yeah, I play volleyball." Ino answered as she fiddled with her hands. She hated to not be doing something; whether it was taking notes during class, doing some sort of exercise either during P.E. or volleyball practice, or doing homework after school. The point was, that she hated to just sit still, she craved involvement; and right now, she wasn't involved in anything.

"Get me your schedule;" He told her, leaving no room for argument. And from the way she pursed her lips, she wasn't too thrilled about being ordered around, even if she didn't voice her disposition. "It's so I know what days you're not going to be here." He answered the unasked question.

"We're having a meeting in an hour and a half, I'll have it after that if you're still here."

"Alright, just come by here after your meeting. Now, let's get to work on that storage closet."

The two made their way to the storage closet on the opposite side of the classroom. They began the arduous task of pulling out all the boxes and placing them in the classroom. The chore took them half an hour.

Once the boxes were out in the classroom, they began to sort through what was there. Forty-five minutes later, they had only managed to create a small dent in what was there.

"Ino, let's start putting these into the filing cabinets back there. We'll put the most recent stuff in the top drawers and work down from there." Asuma said without looking up from the box he was currently sorting through.

Ino nodded her head, and hopped up from her position. The girl walked back into the closet, and went to the closest filing cabinet. She tugged on the handle, and frowned when it wouldn't slide open for her.

Ino let out a frustrated growl when the drawer wouldn't budge from its position. She had been trying to pull it open for the past minute, and it wasn't any closer to getting open. The stupid thing! "Asuma-sensei, I can't get this drawer open!" The girl complained to her supervisor.

"Try pulling it harder. I'll be a minute." He answered back from the other room.

Rolling her eyes at his answer, she kept tugging at the handle. When the effort proved fruitless, she braced her leg against one of the lower cabinets, grabbed the handle with both hands, and pulled it as hard as she could.

What happened was not the effect she had been looking for. She stumbled backwards, and at the same time, managed to pull the cabinet with her. It was going to crush her. Her gravestone was going to say: Here lies Ino Yamanaka, died by trying to open a filing cabinet.

She closed her eyes and braced for the impact. But nothing happened to her; she cracked her eye open and saw why. Two arms were over her shoulders, bracing the cabinet. Blue eyes looked up into brown, then she looked slightly down to find a smirk playing on thin lips.

"Try to not kill yourself while you're here. I really don't want that paperwork." Asuma mentioned as he stepped closer to her. His muscled body pressed against her back as he gave the filing cabinet a light shove to send it back to its place.

Asuma watched as a blush spread across her cheeks as she muttered, "It was stuck."

He raised an eyebrow at her, and with his hands that were still over her shoulders, pulled the drawer open without a problem. He had to bite the inside of his cheek to keep from laughing aloud at the look on her face.

"I got the stupid thing loose," she grumbled, clearly upset that he had managed to get it open without almost killing himself.

The brown-haired man couldn't help it, he chuckled lightly at the girl who was pouting. "Go to your volleyball meeting."

He removed his arms from over her body and stepped back slightly. The girl nodded her head, and turned to walk out the classroom and head over to the gym. She was unaware of the dark eyes that followed her form out of the door.

*-()-*

When Ino finally got back to the classroom, she was buzzing with excitement. The volleyball coach had just named her the captain of the team and the libero, or defensive specialist of the team. She found Asuma sitting on the ground working through the last three boxes of paperwork that remained.

He had a cigarette dangling from his mouth and didn't bother to look up as she entered. "You got your schedule?" He asked as he sorted through the paperwork, placing the papers in the correct spots, to be filed later.

"How do you do that?" She shot back, she didn't even know how he knew she was there. He didn't even look at her! The girl made her way over to the teacher who made it a habit to confuse the hell out of her.

"Your perfume. It's floral, and you're the only person who wears it." He answered, as he held his hand up to receive the document from her.

Once the paper had exchanged hands, he glanced at it cursory to make sure all the information was on there; then made a mental note to memorize the schedule later. He placed the document onto the desk, so it wouldn't be lost in the shuffle that was currently on the floor.

"Bullshit, I am not the only one who wears flowery perfume." She announced as she crossed her arms over her chest.

He raised an eyebrow at her statement, but decided not to admonish her for the language. "Yours is a combination of honeysuckle, orange blossom, and lilac. Now do you mind helping me finish this?"

"How on Earth do you know this?" She asked exasperatedly as she sat down across from the man and started digging into another box.

Once the two got back to work, he answered her question; "My mother had a garden. Those were some of her favorite flowers."

"Oh," she flushed as she heard his logical answer. Of course, he wasn't just paying special attention to her. 'Damnit girl, get a grip!' She thought viciously as she bit the inside of her cheek.

The duo lapsed back into silence as they sorted through the remaining boxes and placed everything into its proper space on the floor. When they were done with that task, they moved the paper work into the filing cabinets in the closet.

They had finished up with the last of the paperwork as the sun was beginning to set. "Thanks for all the help today." He told her as he placed the smoke detector back in its' place.

"You're welcome!" She chirped as she grabbed her bag, after she had it shouldered, she glanced out of the windows and saw the sun setting behind the trees at the edge of the town. "Oh, I didn't realize it was this late!"

"How are you getting home?" He asked, curious if she had someone waiting for her or not.

"I walk home, it's not that far from here." She answered back, with her head titled to the side as she studied the man in front of her.

"C'mon, I'm giving you a ride home."

"Oh, that's not necessary!"

"You're not walking home this late at night." His tone allowed no room for any argument from the girl.

Asuma was happy that she followed behind him without raising anymore protest. They walked down the empty corridors and out of the entrance on the far side of the building. As soon as the fresh air hit them, he lit up a cigarette.

He led her towards the last vehicle that remained in the parking lot, a red and black Corvette Stingray. Ino blinked as she took in his car, it was one of the latest models from what she could tell and it was hot!

She had always wondered who drove this car, and found that she wasn't surprised it was him. The girl let out a muttered, "that's hot." It was then that she realized the position she was in, being behind him, that her statement could be misconstrued. "I meant the car!" She added as she blushed for what seemed to be the thousandth time around the man, when he turned to look at her with an eyebrow raised at her first statement.

He turned his head back around and smirked at the blush that seemed to be a permanent fixture on her face. Asuma grabbed the keys in his pocket and unlocked the doors. He tossed his bag into the backseat before getting into the driver's seat.

Ino clambered into the car after she set her book bag on the floorboard in front of her seat. Before she could put on her seatbelt, Asuma leaned over her and grabbed it. His hand brushed against her hip as he belted her into the car.

"The seatbelt is a bit tricky," He mentioned as he put on his own seatbelt, pretending to not be aware of the blush that had made its way down her neck and to the tips of her ears.

The dark-haired man inserted the key into the ignition and when the engine revived to life, he took a moment to fiddle with the radio station and put it on a popular hip-hop radio station. Then he shifted the car from park to drive, and pulled out of the parking lot.

Ino took a momentary cursory look at the interior of the car, and noticed a pair of dog tags hanging from the rear review mirror.

"You were in the military?" She asked as she nodded to the dog tags.

"Yeah, I was Special Forces for five years. Then I did another two years guarding the daimyo." He answered back.

Ino nodded her head and turned to look out of the window as they left the school behind them.

Asuma took a moment to study the girl sitting next to him, and one look at her profile told him that she was biting the inside of her cheek as she looked out of her window.

"Are you going to tell me where I'm going?" He asked, when she had been silent for a few minutes.

"Oh, sorry. Take a left at the next street." Ino answered as she fought to keep down the blush that was creeping back up.

The rest of the drive was silent save for the music coming out of the speakers and her occasionally telling him where to turn. He pulled into her driveway five minutes later and noticed with the exception of the porch light, no other lights were on.

"Looks like my dad is still at work." Ino mused as she reached down to undo her seatbelt.

"Your dad usually work this late?" Asuma asked as he undid his own seatbelt.

"Only when he's working a particularly tough case." She answered, and as she was about to ask him why he stepped out of the car, she found out the answer when she tried to open her door and found it wouldn't open.

Asuma stepped around the car, and opened up the passenger door for her. "I have the child locks on so my nephew doesn't try and jump out of my car while I'm driving." He informed her before she could ask why.

Ino stepped out of the car and found herself face to face with the enigma that was her teacher with only the car between them.

"Well, thank you for the ride home Asuma-sensei." Ino said as she twisted her right foot around on the concrete pathway.

"You're welcome, and good night." He told her as he leaned against the car door with a soft smile. She was just too amusing for him.

She nodded her head and bit down on her lower lip, a few seconds later, she realized she was keeping him in her drive by not moving out of the way of the car door. A quick shake of her head broke the spell she always seemed to be under when she was around him.

Ino moved out of the way of the door, and made her way up to her home. She turned and waved one at the man one last time, as she went into her house.

Asuma ran his fingers through his hair as he shut the passenger door and made his way back to the driver's side. After he re-entered his vehicle, he left the girl at her home, alone.

* * *

**Konoha Police Department**

Inoichi sat at the table in the conference given to them by the police department as he poured over the files again, trying to find some connection between the girls. Shikaku was sitting across from him going through another file.

The blonde-haired man let out a groan of frustration. They had been working on this case for 48 hours and the only connection they had managed to find was that all of the girls had gone to Konoha High School and had graduated within a few years of each other.

"There has to be some connection here," Inoichi groaned out as he put the file back on the table before picking up another one.

Before Shikaku could respond, the door was thrown open and Ibiki, Anko, and Fugaku Uchiha walked into the room.

"We just finished the last interview of the night." Ibiki announced to the two men sitting at the table.

"Did you make anyone cry this time?" Shikaku questioned almost off handedly as he took a sip of his coffee, caring a bit for the sanity of the interview subjects, but not caring _too much_.

"I've only done that once."

Both Inoichi and Shikaku leveled the other man with a look that said they knew better than that.

"No, and we didn't get any new information either." Ibiki answered after a beat of silence with a sigh.

"So, we're stuck at square one with no suspects, three dead girls, and no solid lead on who killed them." Inoichi surmised for the group as he pinched the bridge of his nose. He had hoped that the interviews they had been doing with the friends and loved ones of the deceased would give them some headway, but it hadn't.

"I wouldn't say we don't have any leads. We know that they all went to the same high school, which is why I sent Shiranui undercover there. Hopefully he can turn something up on that end." Shikaku reminded his old friend.

"We also have someone undercover at the high school, but we have lost contact with them." Fugaku added as he looked between the group of people in the room with him.

"Wait, why do you have someone undercover?" Anko asked, curious as to why they had an undercover and didn't mention that in the first place.

"We had received reports about an underground drug trade happening out of the school. The undercover is from our narcotics division. But we have recently lost contact with them. They initiated their blackout protocol." The police chief explained to the lone woman in the room.

"Okay, let's call it a night. We aren't making any headway, and perhaps a good night's sleep will help." Shikaku ordered, effectively taking control of the group.

Everyone nodded in agreement and began to put the papers back into their original files, so the conference room looked less like a tornado had blown through.

"Anyone up for Akimichi's?" Shikaku asked as he stood from his chair.

A murmur of agreement rang out from the crowd. Then the group filed out of the conference room, and out of the police station and headed over to the Akimichi restaurant which was well known for their beef dishes.


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Ino gets sick at school

Author's Note: I am so sorry this took me so long to update! Thank you to all who have reviewed, favorited, added to their alert list, or just read the story. See the first chapter for the standard disclaimer. Shout-out to my lovely Varmint, for being an amazing beta!

Trigger Warnings: Same as the last chapter!

Read and Review!

* * *

_She was standing in a storage closet, sorting through some paperwork handed to her. Immersed in what she was doing, the blue-eyed blonde noticed immediately when he entered the room. Her body produced a shudder, and it seemed like there was a feel of electricity in the air._

_The girl turned around to find him standing right behind her. As she opened her mouth, to ask what he was doing; his fingers grazed over the back of her hands, over her wrists, up the uncovered skin of her forearms, up her biceps to her shoulders. His touch left electric tingles where he grazed; his fingers blazed a trail from her shoulders, across her collar bones, and up to her throat. His hands finally came to a stop when he cupped her faced in his hands. In the wake of his touch, a trail of goosebumps emerged, and she could feel her heart palpating in her chest._

_She bit down on her lip as his thumb traced over her cheek bones. He used his hands to angle her head upwards and moved his own down towards hers. Her lip slipped from between her teeth as he moved in closer to her._

_When he was but a hair's breath away from her, she let her eyes flutter close in anticipation of what was to come._

* * *

When her alarm clock screeched it's greeting, Ino awoke violently from her dream. Ice blue eyes opened, and she found herself irritated at her alarm clock, forcing her to wake up before what was sure to be a dreamy kiss. She grumbled to herself and pulled the covers back over head, intent on getting back to her dream; she wanted to know just who the mystery man in her dream was.

"Ino! It's time to get up!" Inoichi hollered as his steps echoed through the hallway, undoubtedly walking down the hall and towards the kitchen.

Ino let out a loud groan. She didn't know why, but her stomach felt as if it were in knots. And this usually only happened when something bad happened during the day. It was a sort of sixth sense she possessed, the ability to know what day would be _bad_.

She had a feeling that today was going to be a long day.

Even though she thought this, her father was right: she _did_ need to get out of bed. It wouldn't do her any good to miss school today and, if she was a bit more honest with herself, she couldn't wait for after school. She enjoyed helping Asuma-sensei and was eager to see what they would be doing today.

* * *

**Lunch Period**

By the time lunch was coming around, Ino was beginning to have second thoughts about coming to school today. Just like that twisting feeling in her gut had let her known during the morning, it _had been_ a long day.

First Guy-sensei had made them run on the outdoor track. Which wasn't a problem for her, except that he wanted them to stay in a formation run, ten laps at a controlled pace, then another five at a sprint. This may have been difficult, but it shouldn't have been _so grueling._ Everything would have been fine if not for the fact that he had put the slower people up front. So now her shins were killing her from not being able to take a proper stride.

Then in Biology, they had begun to dissect their first animal, a frog. This wouldn't have been a problem either, if not for the fact that Naruto had been messing around like a fool. The idiot had splashed formaldehyde on her shirt and shorts during one of his moments of pure stupidity. So, now instead of smelling like her usual flowery perfume, she smelled of chemicals and dead animals. Which was giving her a headache, and making her wish she had brought other clothes to change into.

Ino grumbled to herself as she made a salad, grabbed a banana, and a bottle of water from the lunch line. She picked up her tray and made her way back over to her usual table where a few of her friends were already sitting.

"What the hell is that smell?" Neji's face was pulled into a disgusted scowl as Ino sat down at the table.

Ino, unperturbed by him, calmly answered, "Formaldehyde. The dumbass over there was messing around during the dissection lab and decided to give me a chemical bath."

"I said I was sorry!" Naruto exclaimed, he really hadn't meant to get any of it on her. Ino merely sent him a displeased glare, letting him know he still was in trouble with her.

With one mystery solved, there was still another for Tenten. "Ino, what's with the funny walk?" She asked, as she stabbed at her salad.

"During P.E, Guy-sensei wanted us to work on our endurance for running. Which isn't a problem, right? Completely normal thing, right?" Ino questioned in an overly optimistic tone, and frowned heavily, "Nope, he wanted to do it in a formation. Again, not a problem, right? Wrong, he put all the slow people up front and the fast ones in the back. So then, I had to do 10 laps at a snail's pace, without being able to take a stride and now my shins are killing me." She hissed as she viciously perforated her own salad with a fork.

"Are you going to be okay?" Tenten ventured, she could see from the way the guys sitting next her had started to move away, inch by inch, that they were most probably afraid she might stab them as well.

"Yeah, I'll do some stretches when I get home and use ice packs, and I will be good to go by volleyball practice tomorrow!" The blonde girl stated as she smirked towards the other girl. It was amusing to her, how the guys were always afraid she might stab them one day.

It only happened once. And that was in preschool. They seriously needed to let that shit go. Besides, the kid should not have tried to take her grapes.

* * *

**After School/Hallway**

If Ino had found herself having second thoughts about coming to school not even half way through the day, she sure doubted now. It didn't matter that Asuma-sensei was becoming her favorite teacher- with those soft brown eyes, that rich baritone voice, and that smirk he always seemed to have. Staying after school to help him was not worth all the pain she was currently in.

The formaldehyde was giving her a migraine and burning her nose. Her stomach was roiling in protest to the smell, and she seemed to be just a hair's breath away from throwing up. And, as if that wasn't enough, there was the pain in her shins. It had gone from a slight irritation all the way to excruciating, with her muscles spasming erratically due to the walking and extra weight from her backpack. She wasn't sure how she had managed to walk down the hall; especially given she couldn't even look up because of the pain behind her eyes; but she had finally made it to his classroom.

She couldn't wait for her day to end and finally be able to go home.

The young woman opened the door and shuffled through the entryway, not even bothering to look up from her shoes. Nor did she try to greet the man currently sitting behind his desk.

"You alright over there?" He asked in a surprisingly soft voice as he watched her.

As soon as Asuma asked this, he set the papers down that he had in his hands as he stood up. He could tell something was wrong with her, but she didn't answer. Other than the overwhelming smell of formaldehyde, and the odd shuffle she used to enter the classroom, he couldn't tell much about what could be bothering her.

Ino let out a deep breath and glanced up, seeing him standing halfway in between his desk and the door. "Yeah, I'm fine." she reassured him, before adding, "What are we doing today?"

"Actually, Shiranui-san asked for your help today." He informed her, but soon narrowed his eyes at the teenager, "Are you sure you're okay?" He prodded; she was much too pale to be alright and her blood shot eyes stood out like a beacon.

"Alright," she muttered, neglecting to answer his question. As she went to turn around to exit the classroom and go upstairs to the other classroom, he stopped her when he spoke again.

"Go ahead and leave your bag here, I want to see you before you leave for the day." He watched her carefully and noticed how her shoulders dropped and lips pursed, as if debating saying something.

Instead, the young woman decided to just leave it be, dropped her bag on the desk closest to her, and shuffled out of the classroom without another word. Asuma couldn't help the frown that made its way to his face nor how his eyebrows scrunched together as he tried to figure out the puzzle of the female that had just left his classroom.

Sighing to himself, he decided it would be best to just leave it for later, but mentally promised himself that if she wasn't back in thirty minutes then he would go upstairs to find her.

* * *

Genma was getting irritated to say the least. He was making little to no progress on the case and it was getting later and the trail going colder. The brunette just needed _one_ student to come forward and talk to him, but none would.

"Ino, right?" He asked as the blonde teenager opened the door to his classroom.

"That's me," the girl grumbled as she shuffled inwards. She wanted to be nice to the man really, but she also wanted to go home soon... But she had a feeling it would be later rather than sooner.

"Great! Can you help me with grading some of these? I got way behind and need them graded before tomorrow." He rambled as she sat down at a desk. Once he was sure she was situated to her liking, he dropped a pile of homework on the desk along with the answer key on it.

"Oh, and be sure to take off points if they aren't showing work on the problems!" He mentioned as an afterthought.

"Yes sir," Ino answered demurely as she took the red pen to the first paper on the pile. She could only hope at this point that it wouldn't take her too long.

The two then fell into an easy silence that was only ever interrupted by the sounds of pens on paper.

* * *

**30 Minutes later**

Ino was only about halfway through grading the first stack of papers that had been handed to her when her stomach began protesting even more severely than before. She could feel her jaw starting to unhinge and an excess amount of saliva building up in her mouth. The blonde knew if she didn't make it to a bathroom soon, she was going to throw up all over the graded work.

Quickly, she got up from her desk and made her way out of the classroom; all the while she ignored all questions from Shiranui-sensei. The blue-eyed girl made it to the bathroom just in time to get into one of the stalls before sinking down onto her knees and heaving into the porcelain.

Tears pricked at the corners of her eyes as her stomach violently rolled, forcing her to expel all she had eaten earlier. She was beginning to regret her earlier choice of a salad for lunch- school salads tasted horrible going down, and even worse coming back up.

Once all the contents of her stomach had ejected from her body, she still heaved a few more times before it was finally over. Ino grabbed some toilet paper to wipe the remnants off her mouth before throwing it into the toilet and flushing away the evidence of what had happened.

The teenager staggered up to her feet and unlatched the door to the stall. She stumbled the few steps over to the sinks and turned on the water. She held her hands together to create a small bowl and the first one went into her mouth to help clean out the aftertaste. She gargled with the water then spat it back into the sink. Two more cups of water went into her mouth for her to swallow and help with the burning of her throat. The next bit of water went onto her face, to help her calm down and alleviate some of the heat she felt.

She stood over the sink for a moment to collect herself, and happened to see herself in the mirror. Her eyes were bloodshot, her cheeks still had a pinkish hue to them, and the rest of her complexion looked sickly pale. The blonde knew she wasn't going to be able to make it any longer and now it was a matter of getting her bag from Asuma-sensei's classroom so she could go home. She could only hope that he wouldn't be in his classroom when she went in, so she could just grab her stuff and go.

Ino grabbed a few paper towels and patted the remaining water off her face and hands. Slowly, she moved out of the bathroom and down the hall. The florescent lighting was still killing her eyes, so she kept her head down. Bypassing Shiranui-sensei's classroom completely, she headed towards the stairwell. The door made an awful screeching sound that hurt her already sensitive ears and made her cringe.

She took two steps into the stairwell before the door slammed shut behind her, making her cringe again. She closed her eyes and took a few breaths to try and steady herself against the overwhelming dizziness she felt. The teen heard someone softly call out her name, and slowly opened her eyes to find Asuma standing on the landing below her.

As she opened her mouth to explain that she needed to go home, she took a step forward. But due to the dizziness, she didn't see the puddle of water that was in front of her. Her foot twisted to the side as it slipped out from under her. Her arms shot out to try and balance her out, but unfortunately it was for naught. She went flying head first from the landing towards the stairs; she could only hope that she didn't kill herself in front of her teacher.

Her eyes screwed shut in anticipation of what was going to be a very painful landing. But instead she smacked into something softer but still firm. She slowly opened her eyes to find herself looking at an up-close view of her teacher's shirt.

Asuma looked down at the girl, intent on making a joke about how she always seemed to be in trouble; but the words died at his throat when he saw her eyes getting glassy from the tears that were threatening to spill and her bottom lip quivering.

"Hey, it's alright. You're okay now." He tried to calm her down, and began to panic slightly at the tears slowly rolling down her face.

Asuma was out of his depth when Ino buried her head into his shoulder and began to cry in earnest. He carefully swept his arm under her knees and with a bit of shifting, held her in a bridal carry while she wrapped one arm around his shoulders and reburied her head into his shoulder.

The walk back to his classroom was silent save for the sniffling from the girl in his arms, and for that he was thankful. It wouldn't do any good to have a bunch of questions right now. Once they were inside of the classroom, he walked over to his desk and gently placed her on it.

"What hurts?" The brunet asked softly as he looked at his student. He couldn't see any physical injury, and other than when he witnessed her slipping earlier, he wasn't sure if there was anything else going on.

Ino let out a few more sniffles before taking a breath to answer the question, "My head, shins, and ankle." She croaked out, before dropping her head back down so the light wasn't in her eyes anymore. A few more tears rolled down her face as she found herself getting exhausted. She just wanted to close her eyes and go to sleep.

"Hey now, you didn't hit your head, did you?" He asked alarmed as he watched her closing her eyes. First rule of first aid, if the person hit their head don't let them sleep.

"No, formaldehyde on my clothes. Migraine." She muttered, eyes fluttering before she dropped her head back down.

"Hey Ino, I need you to stay awake for just a bit longer alright. Then you can sleep." Asuma told her as he reached over to the phone to dial up the nurse's office. He cursed aloud when it went to voicemail, a clear sign that the nurse was gone for the day.

"But why? I don't have a concussion." She muttered as she tried to glare at the man.

To him, she looked more like an upset kitten, luckily, though he managed to keep from laughing aloud at the image. "Just stay awake a bit longer. The nurse isn't here anymore, so I'm going to wrap up your ankle and then I'll take you home." He explained as he grabbed the first aid kit that all classrooms had.

The smoker pulled out the wrap in the kit, and set it off to the side. Then he grabbed a packet of Tylenol from the kit as well. He reached behind her to grab the water bottle he had on his desk, and handed her both the packet and the bottle of water.

"Take those and drink the water. It will help with the migraine." He told her as he maneuvered her around again, so she was sitting on the center of the desk with her legs dangling over the end.

He sat down in the chair and pulled her foot so it was resting against his thigh before he began examining the joint.

Ino let out an involuntary shiver when he pressed his hands against her ankle. Then he pressed a little harder on the area, she let out a wince of pain. Ino felt surprised at how huge his hands were, compared to her ankle, it seemed as if one hand could wrap around the joint twice. She also couldn't help but to notice the calluses on his hands as he continued to check the area.

"Sorry about the pain, I've got to make sure you didn't break any bones before I can wrap it up." He explained as he methodically checked all areas of her ankle. Last thing he needed to do was send her home with a broken bone.

Once he was positive that she hadn't broken anything, he grabbed the wrap, as he began to unroll it, he asked her; "What happened to your shins?"

"P.E. class. Guy-sensei had us doing formation runs with the slow people upfront and the fast runners in the back. I was in the back so I couldn't get a proper stride in... Now my shins are killing me." She explained as she kept sipping on the water, as much as she didn't want to admit it; she was beginning to feel a bit better. Though, she knew she would be even better if she could just sleep.

"I told him not to do that." He mentioned, and when he saw her questioning look, he elaborated further; "He asked me if formation runs would be an effective way to work on endurance. I told him that they were, but he needed to have the middle type of runners in the front, then a mixture of the slower and faster runners behind them so that way it would keep everyone together. But it wouldn't be too fast for the slower people or too slow for the faster people."

"So, it's your fault that I have shin splints now?" She deadpanned back at him, not caring in the least that he was a teacher and she was mouthing off.

"No, it's Guy's fault. But an effective way for treating them is to freeze some water bottles and then roll them against your shins. You'll want to start at your knee and go down, and press down with the bottle." He said as a peace offering while he finished wrapping up her ankle.

"Alright, your ankle is wrapped up. I don't think it's broken or anything. So just keep the wrap on it for tonight and you should be good by tomorrow. Now let's get your bag and get you home."

He stood up from the desk and moved around with a grace and soundless ability that made her wonder just how a man of his size could possess. She turned her head to watch him curiously, and couldn't help the slight blush that came to her face when she saw the muscles in his back flex as he bent down to get her bag for her.

Ino immediately snapped her head back forward again, and pretended that she hadn't just been watching him. Unknown to her that Asuma was aware of the eyes that followed him. He let his face slide into a roguish smirk when he turned around and saw her facing forward with her head dropped down.

He schooled his features back into a friendly smile as he handed the teen her bag. Once she placed the bag on her back, she moved to get off the desk only to stop when he raised his hand in a stopping motion at her. "Do you want to call your dad and ask him to come and get you?" He inquired with a raised eyebrow.

"No, he's at work now and I don't call unless it's an absolute emergency." She told him matter-of-factly, before she tried to move again; only to be stopped again.

"Then, I'm going to give you a ride home. And we don't want to risk you further injuring yourself, so I'll give you a piggy back ride to my car." He told her, voice leaving no room for an argument from her.

He turned around and bent at that knees, "C'mon, let's get you home." He said as he turned his head to catch her eye. With one hand, he grabbed his briefcase and let the handles slide so that they were on his wrist instead. And with the other patted his pocket to make sure his keys were still in his pocket.

She nodded her head at him, and scooted forward on the desk, so her legs draped on either side of his hips as she placed her hands on his shoulders and hoisted herself onto his back. She almost slipped from his back, until his hands wrapped easily around her thighs to keep her in place, then he rose.

He easily strode through the classroom to the door, he only let go of her momentarily to shut off the lights and open the door. As they cleared the door, he turned back around and made sure to lock up the room, before wrapping his hand back under her thigh.

Ino tightened her grip on his shoulders. It wasn't because the cologne he was wearing made her want to bury her nose in his shirt, since it was that good. It wasn't because of the electrical minefield her legs became when the rough skin of his hands pressed against her soft flesh, no, that was because of the pain of her lower legs. It wasn't because she could feel the power of his hidden muscles under his clothes when she pressed in close to his back. It was simply because she didn't want to risk further injury. And he was quite some ways up from the ground, so, it would hurt if she fell.

That was her story, she was sticking to it.

The walk from his classroom out to the parking lot was a silent one, for that Ino was grateful. The pressure that had been building behind her eyes was starting to recede, but she still had the sensitivity to lights and sounds. She did end up with her head rested against the muscles that ran between his shoulder blades. It was only to keep the light out, she told herself. But that didn't stop her from breathing in deeply when her face met the soft fabric of his shirt.

Asuma walked silently out of the door and found his car easily enough; since it was one of the last ones left in the employee parking lot. He strode over to the passenger side of his car and removed his hand from her thigh to grab his keys. Once the car beeped to signal it was open, he opened the door before bending down again to put the girl on his back on the ground.

When her feet hit the ground, he turned around and with a hand on her elbow, helped her get into the passenger seat. She placed the bag on the area of the floorboard between her feet. He easily shut the door when she and her belongings were in the car. He sauntered back over to the driver's side, opened the door, and slid into his own seat.

He let out a small smirk when he noticed that she was having problems with the seatbelt. The smoker reached over, his hand brushing against hers as he got her seatbelt into place. Once it clicked into place, he turned and pulled his own on.

Then he placed the keys in the ignition, and, once the car roared to life, he turned the music down so it faded into the background noise. He put the car into drive and pulled out of his space and started the trek that he knew would lead to her house.

* * *

Both were unaware that they had caught someone's attention when they were outside.

Neither was even remotely aware of the suspicious glare that the older man had elicited when he carried her outside. A glare that had become even fiercer as the man had placed her in his car and drove away from the school.

"Hidan! Get your ass back in here! You need to finish up that damn paperwork for the Pontiac!" He heard the money loving bastard yell out to the other as he glared off into the distance, with a frown marring his face.

* * *

**Ino's Home**

Asuma didn't feign surprise when the girl in his passenger seat fell asleep almost as quickly as they had left the parking lot. And since now he wasn't worried about a possible concussion or her being asleep and at school, he let her sleep in his car. It made the car ride back to her house uneventful and short in his opinion, but it did give him time to give her a cursory glance over. Just to make sure she was breathing properly.

He did feel surprise however, when he pulled into her drive and noticed another car already there. And a person walking down steps of the small porch. He quickly put his car in park, undid his seatbelt, and opened the door to greet the other man, who he assumed was his student's father. "Hello sir, I'm Sarutobi-sensei. I work at the high school your daughter is enrolled in," was all he managed to get out before he was interrupted.

"Why is my daughter in your car?" Inoichi questioned the other man, immediately trying to figure out just why his daughter was in the car of a strange man.

Her teacher... Believable. But still strange.

"Well sir, your daughter took a nasty spill down some stairs just a bit ago. Don't worry, she doesn't have a concussion. But however she did twist her ankle. I don't believe it is broken, but that she did sprain it. I took her home because I didn't want her to risk further injury by trying to walk home on it. And she told me that you were at work, so she didn't want to call you." Asuma explained to the man as they both moved around his car to the passenger side to get the sleeping girl out of his car.

Immediately, Inoichi felt relieved. Not because his daughter was injured, no, that was worrisome. Instead, he was relieved to know that there were such kind teachers in the school she attended that they actually were willing to drive an injured student all the way home just to keep them safe.

"Thank you for your help Sarutobi-san. It's good to know that my daughter is going to a school that has caring teachers such as yourself!" Inoichi said jovially as the other man opened up the passenger door.

"It's really not a problem. Ino-chan is one of my most dedicated students this year. She's my student aide and has done an amazing job at reorganizing all of the files in the storage closet in my room." Asuma boasted about the sleeping girl in a whisper, it would seem neither man had the heart to wake her from her dreams. When Asuma noticed that Inoichi was having problems with her seatbelt, he helpfully added; "Push the seatbelt into the holder, then click the button. That should get it off."

Inoichi nodded his head slightly to show he had heard. And once he finally got the seatbelt off of his pride and joy, he swept one arm under her knees and another under her shoulder blades and pulled her from the car. Once he got her from the car, he realized that her bag was on the floorboard of the car and he had no way of being able to pick that up.

However, Asuma came to the rescue again. He reached down and plucked the bag off the floor and placed it gently on top of the sleeping girl. "Do you need any more help Yamanaka-san?"

"No, thank you. I've got it from here." Inoichi declined politely, before adding; "I would like to see you again Sarutobi-san."

"Well we do have parent-teacher conferences coming up in October. I will be attending those." Asuma told the man as he quietly shut the door to his car.

Inoichi carried Ino around the car; the two men nodded to each other before Asuma got into his car to drive away, and Inoichi walked back up the steps and into the house. The blond man easily carried his princess through the front door and down the hallway that led back to their bedrooms. He managed to open up her bedroom door, stepped through the threshold, and towards her bed. He laid her down gently, then took the bag on her stomach off and placed it on the floor. He managed to get her blanket out from under her and covered her up with it.

He would let her worry about her clothes when she awoke. But it was times like these, that he cursed himself for not getting married again all those years ago. He just couldn't find it in himself to get over the death of his late wife, nor to bring another woman into Ino's to take his wife's place as her mother. Inoichi placed a chaste kiss to his daughter's temple before shuffling out of the room.

The door shut solidly behind him, and his phone buzzed in his pocket. A text from Shikaku. With a sigh, the man made his way back into the living room, mentally preparing himself to go back to work.

Once he was in the living room, he pulled his phone out to call his friend and co-worker.


End file.
